Ex-Baylor Player to Plead Guilty in Death
WACO, Texas - A former Baylor University basketball player agreed to plead Wednesday to shooting a teammate to death in 2003, a court official said.
Carlton Dotson, 23, was to appear before a judge in the afternoon to enter the plea in the slaying of Patrick Dennehy, said Cathy Edwards, a McLennan County court administrator.
Details of the plea agreement — and the exact charge Dotson planned to plead guilty to — were not immediately disclosed.
Dennehy, 21, had been missing about six weeks when his body was found in a field a few miles from the Baylor campus in July 2003. He had been shot twice in the head.
Dennehy's death sparked a scandal in the Baylor basketball program that led to the resignations of head coach Dave Bliss and athletic director Tom Stanton and self-imposed sanctions that included a ban from postseason competition in 2003-04.
A Baylor investigation in the wake of Dennehy's death discovered that Bliss improperly paid up to $40,000 in tuition for two players, including Dennehy; the coaching staff didn't report failed drug tests by athletes; and Bliss lied to investigators in trying to cover up his misdeeds.
A few days before Dennehy's body was found, Dotson was arrested at his home in Maryland after calling authorities saying he was hearing voices and needed help. Authorities said he confessed to killing Dennehy but have never revealed a motive.
He was charged with murder and faced a maximum of life in prison.
Dotson was ruled incompetent to stand trial last fall and was sent to a mental hospital until earlier this year. A psychiatrist there said Dotson appeared to be faking some of his symptoms.
Valorie Brabazon, Dennehy's mother, said she just found out about the plea and did not know any details.
"I don't feel good about this whole thing," Brabazon said by phone from the Seattle area.
